Animal I Have Become
by Aoshi on Speed
Summary: new kind of man beast and killer. one wants peace after a life of killing, one wants a life that fits after so many that didnt, one wants power after a life without any. but man beast and demon cannot all have happy endings who will live to be a new breed
1. prelude

well, this is kinda the cumulatoion (is that the word I'm thinking of? I'm not quite sure... I'm just gonna act like it is) of all the ideas and false starts I've had on the idea of post-show fics. this takes place after episode 51 and before the movie... well except this chapter because it's a prelude but... that's beside the point.

ANYWHO! yes, I am Aoshi on Speed, the world-renowned procrastination master. but I have also been banned from the computer for five months so for once, I have an excuse. anyways, even though the MAIN characters are Scar and Kimbly (no... _**no**_ ScarxKimbly... **NOOOOOO!!!!** they still hate each other) I have a ton of other characters and even a few original characters... sorry, I couldn't help myself.

wish me luck, maybe I'll acctually reach the end of this one without forgetting about it or moving to another crackhead idea.

Enjoy!

* * *

The first beams of the morning sun filtered through the many windows and cracks in the stone walls of the cathedral. Particles of dust and dew were illuminated in the air as they drifted into the soft light then drifted lightly to the ground where they rested silently. They partook in this momentary calm that came over the usually busy and crowded sanctuary. In this time of turmoil, even the dust was thankful for rest.

Unfortunately, the dust particles and dewdrops would find their rest to be cut short as a young woman in flowing robes swept through the room and sent them into the air once more.

Rose silently apologized to the empty room for disturbing this momentary calm, but there was work to be done, today was going to be very, very busy. She listened as the quiet padding of her feet echoed softly as she walked through the corridors.

She finally reached the door she sought and gently knocked. Nothing moved inside. She knocked again but the room remained silent. She finally opened the door and poked her head in. the open window let the sunlight flood the room. Despite the blinding morning light, a man's sleeping silhouette stood out against the glowing white window. Rose was always slightly amused whenever she got the off chance to see this man sleep.

When she was very young, her parents took her to a zoo in East City. He always reminded her of the adolescent lions she saw there. His shaggy, untamed hair stuck out on the top of his head in wispy strands just like the underdeveloped mane of the young male lions. Like many guys, he also liked to sleep shirtless; reminding Rose, yet again, of the bare torso the young lions, uncovered by the adult mane. He even slept like one of the giant cats. He slept on his side, shoulders hunched, limbs jutting out from the side of the bed, looking in grave danger of falling off altogether. His facial muscles and fingers twitched every so often, reminiscent of the way the young cubs coursed with youthful, impatient energy while their body's need for rest restrained it.

If any bystander did not know who this man was, they would feel the same way they did when they watched a dog sleep after it wore itself out playing with it's littermates. Unfortunately, a spindly tattoo snaking down his arm and a pale x-shaped scar marring his face made his identity unmistakable. He was Scar, a merciless serial killer who left little more than an unrecognizable pile of flesh at every murder scene.

Rose remembered this and sighed heavily. He did not try to deny that he had done exactly what the reports said, he was not wrongly accused, and never tried to act like he was. Despite that, she did not fear him.

A small pendant hung on it's chain around his neck. She had heard them talking about it but only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. She looked up at his face, he was still dead asleep. She gingerly reached out towards it. She knew it was very important to him, but she never got to see it up close. Now that she had a chance to, she marveled at how well-crafted it was.

Her fingers hovered over the tiny pendant. She could feel his breath on her wrist, the slow rhythm told her he was still dead asleep. She finally gently let her fingertips trace over the smooth silver.

No sooner had she touched it did Scar's crimson eyes snap open and his tattooed arm shot out, gripping her arm tightly.

"_QUIEN HOY ALLI!?"_ He demanded ferociously.

Rose jumped back, eyes wide in, for the first time in a long time, utter terror of him. He barred his teeth like an angry animal and even after his demand had been said, a deep growl rumbled in his throat.

After a moment his eyes recognized the young girl, and his brain registered that there was no threat. He released her arm, leaving white marks in her skin that quickly began to fade.

"_Lo ciento_- I mean… my apologies." he quickly corrected himself, realizing he was speaking a language she didn't understand. He propped himself up on his elbows and squinted against the bright light. "It appears that I've slept in, is that right?" he said, looking at Rose once more. She nodded.

He sighed and swung his legs out over the side of the bed "I guess that means I should get up then."

OoOoOo

Edward Elric, the famed, esteemed, state alchemist; who got his license at the age of twelve… now sat at the bottom of the stairs; cuffed, ignored, hungry, and taken hostage by a few townsfolk with little more than sticks… oh the irony. There was some huge commotion going on in the other room, something about speaking beasts and a explosions following a man like rats followed the pied piper.

It was then that Scar had (rather more forcibly than was really necessary) ejected him from the room. "the stupid prick's probably still sore that I beat him up last night." Edward muttered to himself, "honestly, what did he expect? In school he'd get beat up on a daily basis for dressing so stupid… first the yellow leather jacket, that was one thing, but now a _man-dress?_"

"says the boy in skin-tight leather and long sleeves in the desert…" A deep, gruff voice sounded from the doorway, making Ed jump. Scar leaned against the frame, arms crossed, face emotionless as ever. "and it has been a very long time since I have been in school." Scar said, pushing off from the wall and unfolding his arms as he walked toward Edward.

The young boy smiled and laughed nervously, "oh, so you uh… heard that huh?" Scar ignored him. Regaining his composure, Edward shook off his fear of the intimidating man, "so is your little party in there over, or did you finally find an invitation for me?" Edward said with a devious smirk. Scar kneeled down so that he was eye-level to the boy and gave him a hard stare. Edward fell silent almost immediately.

Scar glared a moment longer to ensure the boy would stat quiet, then looked down and began to un-lock the wooden shackles on the boy's wrists. They clattered to Edward's feet after a few moments and Scar rose once more.

Edward blinked in confusion and looked at his wrists, "you… you're letting me go?" he called after scar as he turned to leave. Scar made a noncommittal noise. "but… why not kill me now? Nobody's watching… you could've blamed it on the talking beasts running through the town." Edward said incredulously as he stood up. Scar stopped, but did not turn to face the boy.

There was a long pause. Finally the older man spoke, "for two reasons…" he turned and face Ed, "for one, I need you to lead the people in an evacuation. Because I have to stay here as a lure, you have the responsibility to get them out of here safely…"

Edward waited, but the man said no more, "and… reason number two?" he asked.

Scar turned again, "I made a promise… to end this life of bloodshed that I have led… as of tomorrow, I will never kill again."

Ed blinked, "but… it's not tomorrow yet… you can still kill whoever you want!" he pointed out. A noise came from Scar that sounded almost like a laugh. "a word of advise, boy," he said over his shoulder, "when the angel of death overlooks you, don't point out to him his mistake." with that, he left the hallway.

_"and be careful of where you place that 'man-dress' comment. It may offend someone less forgiving than myself."_

OoOoOoO

With the darkness, bloodshed rained down upon the town. Rabid, talking beasts struck down the defenseless people like lightning, their demonic laughter rumbling through the air like thunder. A man dressed in the military blue uniform followed after them. Explosions blossomed in his wake, rubble fell from the sky like hail, and the dead bodies paved the path he had walked.

"why're you running huh?" he called, his voice chillingly clear amidst cries for mercy and screams of terror, "why aren't you fighting back?" he trailed his fingers along a nearby wall, creating a line of explosions that followed him quick succession. "can't you give me some kind of fun here?" Blood sprayed onto his face; he only smiled wider.

"You insects are even more worthless than the damn Ishbalans were!" he called to them. One last explosion detonated behind him, flinging dust and blood into the air to rain back down to earth in a ghastly drizzle. The man held out his arms and turned his face upward to receive it. His entire body stood ready, his nerves tingled in expectance of the wet warmth of newly spilt blood as it splattered against his skin, his eyes focused to take in every detail of the destruction he had made, and his ears were tuned for their pitiful cries for mercy that would come any moment… he waited… they did not come. His smile vanished.

He snapped his eyes open and looked around. Not a soul cried, not even a whimper. His arms dropped as the biggest, and the leader of the talking beasts strode up to his side, "what? Have they decided to get brave finally?"

"No, Kimbley." the beast said, turning it's scaly head up to him, "They're dead."

"oh…" he said, more disappointed than sad, "already?"

"I am as surprised as you." It said, shaking the blood from it's white mane then proceeding to lick the bits of flesh from it's claws. "wait," it said suddenly as something caught it's eye. A cloaked figure stalked toward them, hood up and eyes shadowed. The beast sniffed the air then pulled it's black lips back over it's bloodied teeth in a twisted smile, "He smells of sand and gunpowder mixed with blood…" he turned it's smile back to Kimbley, "It's him…"

"who goes there." the figure spoke with a deep, gravely voice that demanded information rather than requesting it. The beast let out a laugh that could have easily been mistaken for a bark. It turned to it's companions, "the human speaks with a firm voice…" the leader crouched down, its soldiers mimicked him, "I wonder what he'll sound like when he begs for mercy!" he sprung, leading his pack in a full-out charge.

The cloaked man didn't move. The Chimera leader wondered if maybe he had gone blind in the chaos. The beasts were less than ten feet from him now. In the blink of an eye, the leader sprung; claws extended, teeth opened and ready to shred flesh. The beast's body flew easily two feet above the man's head in a deadly arc. The man did not move.

In mid-air, the beast began to salivate, this guy was a better build than the other skinny, watery villagers. This would be his reward for serving his nation, they would put him right again, just like they promised. How couldn't they? If they rewarded Archer for bringing them Kimbley and Tucker, imagine what they would give him when he brought them Scar's head. This was it, no longer would he be a hideous beast, salivating at the thought of human flesh. With this man's death, his life would be resurrected. His eyes grew wide, long streams of saliva trailed from his lips, he could almost taste the Scarred flesh.

"SAY YOUR PRAYERS, SCARRED MAN!" the beast screamed, laughing hysterically.

The man moved. He turned his face up and blazing crimson eyes glared at the lunging beast, his lips moved, forming murmured words the Chimera could not hear until, "-and may god forget your sins and welcome you to paradise…"

The poor beast never knew what hit him. His blood spattered his comrade seconds before he, too, fell victim to the cursed arm that had claimed so many before them. His blood spattered on the beast after him, and that blood on the next, and so on until the beasts were no more.

The Scarred man looked up to the last soldier left, and pulled his hood down to glare at him.

"Amen…"

OoOoOoOo

He smiled widely, spat the blood that had been collecting in his throat at Scar's feet and stared into the distance, for his eyes were no longer of any use, he only saw shadows now, "I sure hope you can find someone else, because it looks like I'm about to re…tire…" with that last breath, the Crimson Alchemist's body went numb, his joints stiffened, and his face froze in that ghastly manic grin.

He heard the Scarred man's breathing pattern begin to increase with panic as he took a pause to let the information sink in. when he realized the situation was inescapable, he let go of Kimbley's body and let it fall to the ground. In his final moments, as the shadows dimmed even more, Kimbley imagined what the expression of utter helplessness must look like on the Scarred Ishbalan's face… it was a pity he couldn't see it.

The shadows faded, and the world went black.

OoOoOoOo

A rat scurried over the rubble and bodies, nose in the air, following the scent. The scent of his master. Any other rodent would have been scared off by the falling rubble and earth-shattering explosions, but this was no ordinary rat. This rat had a loyalty to honor, and was about the size of a medium-sized dog, it would not be forced off-path easily.

The scent was almost overwhelming now. Since the rat knew humans didn't release their scent in large quantities (mainly because most of their scent was in their blood), a strong scent meant that they were bleeding. Judging by the intensity, the Master was bleeding a lot.

There was a large suit of armor in the rat's way. It was halfway black and smelled of gunpowder and sulfur. Another telltale sign that his Master had been there.

It scampered over the metal and stared at the sight before its eyes. There the master lay, motionless, drenched in his own blood, and a gaping hole through his torso.

The rat galloped up to its master's side and gently nudged his cheek, his eyes did not blink, and his face did not move.

But, the slightest of a breath wheezed out of his lips. The loyal rodent knew that even though its master was not dead yet, he would be soon.

The rat solemnly tried once more to get a reaction, but to no avail. So, it turned, put a paw on its master's shoulder and hoisted itself up onto his back. Then walked over and curled up over the hole in the man's back. The rat rested its head on its forearms and closed its eyes. If nothing else, he would wait here for death to take them both.

After a few minutes, the rat heard footsteps approaching and lifted it's head. Three men came running towards them; the rat's fur began to stand on end; a warning to the men. They were led by the one with pale skin that the master was often talking to… the man smelled of corruption.

The pale one took a look at the body and shook his head, then took a few steps toward the master and the rat. A loud hiss shot from the rodent's throat as it sprang to it's feet, fur fluffed and looking even larger than before. The pale one looked at the master's body once more then smiled. He turned and gave orders to his followers that the rat didn't understand. One pulled out a small gun, loaded it, aimed, and fired.

A small dart pierced the rodent's neck and the world went black.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Brother…"

The word just barely escaped the scarred man's lips. The crimson glow was growing brighter, yet the world was fading. Soon, the light enveloped him; his body went numb, his all noise faded to silence, and everything went white.

His red eyes snapped open. Nothing but white stretched out before them, it was totally silent. The blinding pain he had been in moments ago vanished; did that mean that God had healed him in death? Had he been forgiven? No. Though the pain was gone, his arms had not returned. He rolled over and saw that the shoulders to which they had been attached were still bleeding, along with all his other wounds… he was not healed, only numbed.

Scar managed to sit up and took a sharp breath as he saw the gigantic black gate before him. The people carved in the ornate frame screamed and wept in pain and agony. Some attacked each other, others appeared to be desperately attempting to free themselves from the door their bodies were fused to, others still reached out to him for help. His eyes grew wide in a terror he hadn't felt in a long time. There was no longer any doubt in his mind… he had definitely not been escorted to heaven.

He had always suspected that he would be dragged to hell and thought he'd probably deserve it, but now that the gate was before him, horror wracked his body with violent tremors. He no longer wished to accept his fate; he wanted to run, but a mixture of awe and paralyzing fear kept him from looking away from the ghastly door, much less run. That is… until there was a noise from within.

Voices… speaking his name. Not his codename either, the name he had been born with. Hundreds of voices, some he thought he knew others he didn't. the shivers ravaging his body lessened slightly, maybe… this really was the right path, the door was just a test…

Scar rose to his feet cautiously, he thought he heard a very familiar voice, "b… Brother?" he called reproachfully. The other voices stopped and only one called back, "Brother… is it you? Is it really my little brother?" Though he hadn't heard his brother's voice in years, Scar could never have forgot it.

"BROTHER!" he called happily, the first smile in years spreading across his face. He ran towards the door.

"my brother…" the voice repeated. The door began to crack open slowly, a bright light was visible beyond the heavy black iron.

"brother…" the voice repeated, more quietly. Scar didn't notice that the tone of his brother's voice was changing. The door was almost open enough for him to see inside.

"my brother." the voice echoed again.

He was so close, he was two arm's length from being able to touch it (well, that is if he had arms) that was when the voice changed entirely "**_My dearest little brother!!!!"_** the voice screamed. distorted and demonic, it rumbled and echoed over the emptiness. The great doors suddenly swung open as if blown apart by the force of the monster inside.

Scar's smile vanished instantly. The light was snuffed out and replaced by a pure black wall of nothingness. He stopped immediately as the door swung open and stood, dumbstruck, for a moment. That is, until eyes of varying size and color snapped open and glared down at him. The demon voice sounded again, **_"come, face your fate."_**

Scar turned to run, but long, unnaturally twisted arms shot out, grabbed him, then pulled him into the abyss before he could get more than a foot away. The heavy iron door slammed shut after him.

After the last echoes of the man's scream faded, the room fell silent and lie in patient wait once more.

OoOoOoOo

A year after the incident in Lior, a young soldier wandered the halls under his actual post. He was new, he didn't know the layout of the lab yet. Somehow, he had ended up in the basement… which, by the way, was very cold… and was also, by the way, inadequately lit… and was also, by the way, out-of-use since the new regime had taken over… and was also rumored to be where they held the human guinea pigs after they had been too horribly disfigured to be of any adequate test subject… as well as where the tortured, disfigured, angry, and vengeful souls of the dead subjects manifested still. So he had good reason to be on the verge of soiling himself. The only thing lighting his path was a small flashlight on the end of his gun. It illuminated a small circle on the floor, but not much more.

Finally, the young man saw a light ahead, he'd found the door at last! He began to run toward it but suddenly stopped… he could have sworn he heard a different set of footsteps falling with his own. He looked behind him, but nothing was there, "hello?" he called. but he heard nothing more.

He shook his head and continued, he was just letting his fear get to him, that's all… he heard them again. Not the sound of hard rubber soles plugging along the concrete, soft padding of bare feet with the harsh clacking of claws. He was closer to the door now. He stopped abruptly again, "Who's there?" he called again. But his voice was the only sound.

He was frightened more now so he turned and sprinted down the hallway, the noise came again, but this time faster than his own footfall. The young man whirled around as he stopped a third time and pointed the light down the hall, and screamed, "WHO GOES TH-"

A large, black, furry, mass lunged at him, long, white teeth extending from the darkness. It hit the young man in the chest, knocking the air from his lungs and digging it's teeth into his shoulder. Then, as quickly as it came, it released the bleeding soldier, leaped over his body with long, muscular legs, and scampered for the door on all four legs.

As the young man looked back, he caught a glimpse of a grotesque creature. It had the body of a man with long, lanky limbs and thick black fur; it's head was that of a giant rat but had long, silken, black, hair that hung limply in the creature's face and down it's back. A long, fleshy tail whipped along behind it. It looked at the young man with large, amber eyes for a moment before sprinting off, down the hall and out of sight.


	2. 1 the predator returns

yes, I changed the title, somebody told me the title might catch more eyes if it was named after a song. so, no, you're not crazy, it is no longer "a new breed" it's "animal I have become" anywho, I think it's a catchier name now... I hope.

well, maybe I AM updating too fast, but I'm impatient, and don't like making the oh... (counts on fingers) thirteen readers I have wait for the next chapter. besides, the prelude really dosn't say much about the rest of the story so I figgured I should get the first _actual_ chapter up as soon as possible.

so! here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

(and yes, I apologise... I just HAD to add a created character... sorry)

* * *

January 1, 1916

It was dark, probably around midnight. A group of four men walked down the street, some walking a bit straighter than others, depending on how much they'd had to drink that night, it was New Years' after all. The two walking the straightest were a short man with a boyish face and large glasses, and an older man with greying hair and squinty eyes. They had the unfortunate job of supporting their other two friends. The younger man with glasses, Cain Furey, struggled under the weight of his much larger, and much more intoxicated friend, Jean Havoc.

"I told you not to drink so much, now you can't even walk straight" Furey said.

"whaddya talkkin about? I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine" Havoc slurred, smiling incoherently. "yer full of it, man," Breda said from over the older man, Falman's shoulder, "Yer even more wasted than I am!"

"NUH-UH!" Havoc yelled, making Furey flinch, "I AM NOT!"

"YER JUS' SAYIN THAT CUZ YA DUN WANNA ADMIT THAT YER PLASTERED!" Breda retaliated.

"I swear to drunk I'm not god!" Havoc yelled back.

The two, more sober, members of the group looked at each other uneasily. "how much farther to the apartments?" the younger man asked. Falman sighed, "not too much farther I hope, I think only a few more blocks, see? There's the Lab 5 ruins right there." he said, pointing. "It's odd," Furey said, "it's been two years since Ed disappeared, two and a half since the place was blown up, I wonder why they haven't fixed it up yet…"

"I guess it's just like Ed used to say…" Havoc murmured, staring into space, "some things just aren't meant to come back into being…" there was a pause among the men. "geez, Havoc," Breda said, "you're more profound drunk than sober… Maybe you should drop the dinner and a movie date you got next week and take her to a bar."

Suddenly, Havoc's feet stopped moving, making it impossible for poor Furey to move under his comrade's weight, "uh… Havoc? You okay?" he asked worriedly. Havoc stared up at the ruins blankly. "Havoc?" Falman asked, stopping as well. The man simply stared.

"hey… since the place got destroyed… it doesn't have any security anymore right?" he asked. "well, I guess not…" Falman said, thinking for a moment.

No sooner had the words been said had a wide grin stretch across Havoc's face and he pushed Furey away and sprinted drunkenly toward the destroyed building. "WAIT A MINUTE!" Falman yelled

"YEAH! WAIT FER ME YA JERK!" Breda called, shoving Falman away as well. By the time Falman and Furey had gotten to their feet again, their comrades had already rounded the corner, through the gate into the ruined courtyard. Furey sighed, "well, I guess we've got to go get them huh?"

"afraid so." Falman said, "the structure's unstable now, it might collapse on them if they're not careful."

"yeah…"

"yeah…"

The two men looked up at the huge, ominous, dark, deserted building then back at each other. Furey swallowed hard "well…l…let's go…" and shakily began to follow the sound of Havoc and Breda laughing asininely in the distance.

OoOoOoOo

Havoc laughed stupidly as he rounded the corner, every drunken "hyuk" echoing off the desolate stone walls. Breda followed quickly after, missing the turn and running headlong into a pile of rubble with a loud, clattering crash. After a moment or two, he reappeared around the corner and ran down the corridor, swaying even more than he previously had been.

"you okay, man?" Havoc asked, only slightly concerned.

"I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine, there's no need to worry about me, Pamela! NOTHING CAN INJURE THE MIGHTY SHAMUS!!!"

Falman looked down the stone corridor and sighed, "oh boy, he's on Shamus the invincible and Pamela the well-endowed… next it'll be-"

From down the hall echoed, "_FLY MY PRETTIES! FLY! WAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHH!"_

The two unfortunately sober men sighed, "the army of flying monkeys…"

Havoc suddenly stopped dead and stood, dumbfounded in front of a vacated room. Not expecting the sudden halt, Breda ran into him, bouncing off his shoulder. "hey!" he yelled, nursing a lump that formed when his head hit the floor, "what's the big idea???"

"I coulda sworn… I saw…" Havoc muttered, letting the end of his sentence trail off. Without another word, he walked through the doorway into the room. Breda got up and looked in; there wasn't anything really special about it.

In the corner there was a rusted bed-frame, covered by a moth-eaten old mattress. Along the walls were shelves and cabnets full of broken and dusty bottles; of what, he'd never know, most of the labels had peeled off or the ink had faded on them. The only outstanding detail was the giant hole in the wall opposite the door, which seemed to have crumbled in the explosion. A small portion of the wall remained attached to the floor, creating a little ledge It offered an incredible view of the city

Havoc stood in the threshold of the gaping space. The wind whistled eerily around the room and pulled at his clothes, tugging him toward the gap. In front of him, a small group of rats huddled together on the crumbled wall; just inches from the drop off. Every once in a while, another rat would climb out of the shadows under the ledge and join the little group.

Havoc didn't move at all, it was hard to tell if he was even breathing. Breda took a step into the room, "Havoc, man, what're you-" The sound of footsteps cut him off, "There you guys are!" Furey yelled as he followed Breda into the room. Falman followed suit, "you know, for a bunch of drunks, you two run fast." but now Breda and Furey were in the same state as Havoc, "hey, what're you guys…" he followed their line of vision and saw what was the problem.

From the shadows that the rats scurried out of; something much, much bigger was moving. The black mass rose up to be at least six-foot-nine. Pointed ears twitched at the top of its sleek head, amber eyes shone bright and alert through the gloom, and long sharp teeth sprouted from it's muzzle as black lips pulled back into a malignant grin. It stood, arms outstretched, palms turned outward; multiple smaller rats scurried over its body, clinging to its fur like it was their mother. On its palms were two light gray markings, circles, one with a crescent moon and the other with an upside-down triangle.

Havoc's lips finally moved, "it…can't…be…" he whispered. The gleaming white smile stretched further and formed one, single word,

"boom."

with that, the rats detached themselves from the giant figure and charged in waves at the four men, who (finally broken from their stupor) forgot their masculinity and screamed in terror as they sprinted into the darkness of the hallway.

After a few moments, the screams told the beast that the men were on the level below. It blew air between its teeth and let out a shrill whistle. The swarm of rats returned to his side obediently. It sank back into the shadows and listened to the wind whistling through the room.

OoOoOoOo

January 8, 1916

Alphonse Elric walked out of the newly re-built central library. He had, yet again, gotten side-tracked and forgot what time it was. He was supposed to be studying, re-learning the skills he had forgotten when Ed brought him back.

In the transmutation, Al had lost all memory of the four years he and his brother had spent searching for the philosopher's stone; including any experience that would make him a better alchemist. He couldn't even ask Ed what happened because, along with his memory, Al's brother had also vanished. And so, in order to find his brother, Alphonse was collecting all the clues he could and piecing them together in an effort to learn what happened and where Ed could have gone; and how to bring him back.

From down the street a familiar figure waved to him, "Al! There you are! We were starting to wonder if you'd fallen asleep in there." He looked up and smiled. Thankfully, he wasn't alone in his search. Winry was holding multiple shopping bags on each arm yet somehow managed to jump and wave energetically at him. Beside her was Rose, considerably more calm and with considerably less shopping bags hanging from her arms; mainly because one of them was occupied holding the tiny hand of a two-year-old Daniel.

Winry, Rose, and Izumi had volunteered to stay with Al and help him any way they could; even if sometimes it was just keeping him company while he traveled. Even though he didn't remember it, apparently Rose had become friends with Ed and Al in their travels. That wasn't hard to believe though, she was very easy to get along with, she was also kind enough to tell him everything she knew about the role she played in his and Ed's journey… no matter how painful it was, including how the military had made her the mother of a child at the age of seventeen.

Rose smiled kindly, "Izumi told us to come get you after we finished shopping. And besides that, Daniel's starting to miss his playmate." she added as the toddler at her side began tugging away from her and towards Al. He smiled as he walked up to them and picked up the kid, "yeah? I'll bet he's tired after a day of shopping with Winry." he said lifting the little boy over his head, getting a high-pitched squeal of laughter out of him, then putting the boy on his shoulders and following Winry down the street. Rose smiled, "he won't admit it, but he's about due for a nap" she said.

"no sleepy!" Daniel insisted, fighting a yawn.

"yeah yeah, whatever you say, little guy." Winry laughed over her shoulder.

The little boy put his arms on top of Al's head and nuzzled his face into the dirty blonde hair, "Daniel no sleepy…"

OoOoOo

When they got to the hotel, they were greeted by a large group of men in military uniforms. Al could see lights from camera flashes blinking rapidly down the hall. There were reporters there too, scribbling away as they shouted questions at the official.

"no, we can't confirm anything yet, now please, I'm going to have to ask all of you to get back, this is a restricted area." he said, shooing them away. They didn't listen.

"What's happened?" Winry asked confusedly. "I don't know…" Al said looking around. In the crowd he saw a familiar eye patch, "but I can sure find out." He gently lifted Daniel off his shoulders and handed him to Rose before running off into the crowd. He pushed through the mass of people until he found the coat sleeve of Roy Mustang and tugged on it to get his attention. "Colonel- I mean, Major Mustang!" he kept forgetting that Roy had been demoted.

Roy turned and looked down at him, but only offered a feeble smile, which was all he could seem to muster these days, "hello Alphonse, what're you doing here?" he asked politely. Al didn't expect anything more from him. according to winry, Roy had once been rather cocky and vibrant; But ever since Al had known him, he was always very solemn and quiet. Nobody really knew what had happened to him.

"I could ask you the very same question, Major." Al said, "I thought you were stationed up north, why're you down here in Central?"

Roy looked down the hall, towards the commotion, "they think… an old friend of mine might've come back…" Al blinked, by the tone of his voice, it was obvious that whoever he was talking about was most definitely not on friendly terms with him.

"you shouldn't be here, there's been a murder… go back, Al. you don't need to see this." Roy said, before he walked toward the yellow tape that was blocking off the hallway. Al's eyes grew wide. Despite the Major's warning, he followed a little ways behind Roy into the bloodstained hallway.

As he walked, Al could hear the men murmoring to each other,

"God, this is the third one this month!"

"do you think it's really him?"

"why would he have come back after all this time?"

"I thought he only attacked State Alchemists…"

"Doesn't he know that there _is_ no State Alchemist rank anymore?"

"I thought he was dead."

"Maybe the dead can come back…"

OoOoOoOo

"tell me what you've got." Mustang said as he approached the cloth-covered figure. A jumpy soldier turned to him abruptly and whipped out a clipboard and read the notes off of it, "uh-uh-uh, well sir. Th-th-the body has multiple lacerations that seem like they were made from the inside,"

"and who was the victim?" Roy said, lifting up the imbrued sheet and looking under it.

"-a-a-and there's no sign of a struggle," the jittery soldier continued.

"but who was the victim?" Roy repeated.

"a-a-a-nd the cause of death seems to be excessive bleedi-"

"I CAN SEE THAT, SOLDIER, I'M ONLY BLIND IN ONE EYE, THE OTHER SEES PERFECTLY FINE, NOW TELL ME: WHO WAS THE VICTIM!!!!!" Roy finally screamed, losing his temper.

The boy whimpered, quickly whipped out another file, and handed it to him. "S-S-Salina T-T-Tanimura, sir," the soldier stammered, "sh-she was twenty-two years old, Amestrian female, a hotel maid, approximately five-foot-four, green eyes, blonde hair, graduated from westwood high school in-"

"enough," Roy cut him off, "you don't have to say anything else." he said as he continued to read the profile silently. The young soldier fidgeted while he waited for Roy to finish. Finally he couldn't stay silent anymore, "do you think it's him, sir?"

"who?" Roy asked listlessly.

"you know…" the young soldier looked around nervously like he was about to say some horrible curse word, "_Scar…_"

"absolutely no chance." Roy answered without hesitation.

"what?! B-but, it looks just like-"

"I know." Roy said, handing the clipboard back to the soldier, "Whoever did this was a very good impersonator, but definitely not him."

"and how are you so sure, Major?" a female voice said from behind them. Mustang snapped his head up to look at who had spoken; his expression soured, "hello General Estele" he said with an undertone of distaste in his voice.

Anna Estele was the youngest general in the military. She apparently liked to stand out for she had torn the bottom of her military skirt and the sleeves of her jacket off, often wearing very little beneath it. She wore black, leather boots that came up to her calves and her jet-black hair was gelled up into a Mohawk with a long, thin ribbon hanging down her back. Her face was ashen white and painted with black lipstick and black eye shadow that make her amber eyes seem to glow unnaturally. She was all of twenty-seven years old and was already a master martial artist, an incredible alchemist, and a feared name. Since the fall of the fuehrer and the rise of the democracy, she had been climbing the ranks at an alarming speed. She was now of a higher rank than Roy ever was after only three years of service, two under the fuehrer and one under the new regime; but always a rather eager supporter of the Fuehrer, though. Needless to say, she and Roy did not see eye-to-eye.

"maybe you've spent too much time away from civilization, Roy," Estele said deviously, "or maybe you've forgotten the case completely; but might I remind you that we never found Scar's body. As they say; 'breathing until proven dead.'" The woman walked up to him and put one elbow on his shoulder, resting her weight on it, Roy scowled but did not react.

"even if he lived through the Lior incident, this isn't in his pattern." Roy said tersely, "He only attacked State Alchemists and the off military personnel who tried to stop him, all of which were male; he never went after women, or anybody outside the military."

"oh, Mustang, you foolish, foolish man, you." Estele snickered, shaking her head, "allow me to explain something to you…"

OoOoOoOoO

Al watched silently from around the corner, peeking out from behind the wall. Again, they were all talking about something big and important and he had almost no idea what was going on. He had heard about Scar from almost everyone so he knew the basic public knowledge.

Scar was an Ishbalan serial killer with an X-shaped scar on his forehead. He used some kind of "destructive alchemy" to break apart a person's flesh by only doing two of the three steps of transmutation. While most would analyze, deconstruct and reconstruct, Scar stopped at deconstruction; therefore, not breaking the law against using alchemy in the Ishbalan religion.

He was also approximately six-foot-two (about a foot taller than Furey); had white hair like Falman yet, unlike Falman, somehow managed to attract a small group of fan girls; used very long words that Havoc had a hard time comprehending; moved so fast that Riza was only able to shoot him once in the shin; was somehow smart enough to give Breda and his team the slip every time he was being chased; had only slightly less muscle mass than Major Armstrong… and had apparently saved Al's life, then disappeared. other than that, very little else could be told about him. At best, newspapers described him as a vengeful psychopath, at worst: a wrathful demon.

So far, Al had found only one person who seemed to have thought of Scar as an actual person rather than some horrible monster. Rose was the one who had been closest to him, so Al decided to believe her more than anyone else… the Amestris newspapers were famous for exaggerating.

A hand touched Al on the shoulder, making him jump a little. He whipped his head around and saw Rose standing behind him, "_nobody out there is saying anything and I got tired of waiting for information."_ she said quietly as she could, peeking around the corner as well, _"what're they talking about?" _she whispered retreating back behind the wall.

_"something about that Scar guy…the woman talking to Roy thinks he's come back and killed a woman who worked here."_ Al whispered back to her

_"WHAT?!?!?!"_ Rose quickly scrambled back to the corner, practically standing on top of Al to listen in.

"you don't explain anything to me, General, I've been on this case longer than you've been in the service." Al heard Roy growl.

"well, in all that time you were on the case he was never caught was he? And now, he's come back. And now, you've been demoted to the rank of major and spend your life in a barren wasteland up north… fantastic job, Mustang." the woman sneered, "and besides that, you can't predict this man's actions, he was a maniac, after all."

Rose had one hand on Al's shoulder and the other on the wall to stabilize herself while she stood on her tip-toes to see. He could only see her out of the corner of his eye and… she almost looked angry from his angle.

"frankly, a murderer is a murderer, through and through. Any reason he gave was just an excuse so he could justify his own actions. If you take away his cause, he'll just find another one. Like a rat in a maze. If you close off one path to the prize, he'll just find a way around it, or plow right through it." Estele said simply.

"frankly, General," Roy spat, "A murderer is a person, and people and rats are very different beasts, so it's no use comparing them. Besides that, even rats have a pattern. So did he. Even if he decided there was some other wrong God had called him to right, it simply wasn't in him to kill women, he had every opportunity to kill Hawkeye but he never even tried." he was beginning to raise his voice and finally turned to meet Estele's smirk with an intimidating glare, "Nor was it in his nature to attack an unarmed victim. unsuspecting, but never unarmed. And besides _that_," now he had shrugged her arm off his shoulder and was beginning to advance on her, making her take a few steps back, "there would be NO way for him to justify killing this woman; she had no link to the military, to Ishbal, to alchemy, to _him_ AT ALL. Now are you going to start looking for this woman's murderer or are you just going to keep chasing a _ghost_ while the _real _killer slips through our fingers!!!" he was little less than an inch from this woman's face now.

There was a momentary pause. Then another smile twined across Estele's face, "my my, Mustang… for a war hero, you sure are fooled fast." she laughed then moved away from Roy and strode over to the cloth-covered body. "I'll admit, I've always heard he was convincing, very good with words, a _fantastic_ speaker… even got an entire city to revolt just like Ishbal all by himself… but you must understand something," she knelt down beside the bloodied cloth and ran a hand over it gently, "a man does not always kill for revenge or justice… sometimes it's just a bit more…" she suddenly grabbed hold of the fabric and whipped it off the body, "carnal."

The photographers at the front of the mob let out a collective gasp and began snapping away at the sight before them. Rose took a sharp breath and the hand that had been on the wall flew to her mouth. Al hadn't been facing the scene and turned around quickly, "_what? What happe-"_ he stopped in mid-sentence as he saw the gruesome scene in full.

The woman was beautiful… or… at least she would have been in life. Now her pretty face had a cloth stuffed in her mouth and was distorted with absolute terror; her green eyes frozen wide open and staring at whatever unseen ghost had killed her. Her arms were tied. Deep gashes were carved into her previously flawless skin. Her limbs: bent at irregular angles. Neck and back pulled into an unnatural backwards arc. But worst of all was the fact that the poor woman was also stripped naked, her clothes lay in a neat, folded pile behind her.

"you see, Roy," Estele said, smirking once more at Roy's expression of complete horror, "the life of a criminal can get very lonely, a problem I'm sure you never had to worry about… and, well… when a man gets too lonely, he can do some crazy things…" she crooned, mockingly patronizing.

Al looked up at Rose and saw her standing on her own now. She clasped both her hands over her mouth and shook her head, eyes wide, _"no…he wouldn't…he couldn't…"_ she breathed.

Roy shook his head slowly, "why did you leave this out of the report you sent me?"

Estele looked at her nails lazily, "because I thought it would be so much more pleasing to give you a little surprise, Roy."

Roy shook off the shock, "It doesn't matter anyway! I told you! He never went after women! He just wasn't like that!"

"oh-ho! You still think he was fighting for good but just had his heart in the wrong place, don't you? What a cute bedtime story that would be, but I'm afraid the rest of us graduated kindergarten some time ago." she stood and began to walk towards Roy again, "need I remind you of the last young woman he came in contact with? A miss Rose Thomas?"

Al felt the hand on his shoulder suddenly tighten. Again, he had been so absorbed in what was happening, he hadn't realized Rose's hand was back.

"she was only sixteen at the time, such a beautiful, loving, _trusting_ young woman…"Estele crooned, circling around Roy, "her home was torn apart, think of how vulnerable she was; alone, scared, confused… she was probably so desperate for help that she'd trust _anybody_ who said they could protect her… no matter who they were…" the woman stopped behind Mustang and put her lips to his ear, "She became mute and pregnant in practically the same hour Scar appeared in Lior… take a moment to nurse on that idea, Mustang." she smirked wider, "a man that manipulative and a girl that trusting; it would have been only a matter of time before-"

"SHUT UP!" the suddenness of Rose's voice and the uncharacteristic force behind it made the entire corridor go silent and made Al jump about three feet in the air before falling on his backside. "Miss, you have no idea what you're talking about so I would very strongly suggest that you shut up." Rose whispered, shaking in, for the first time Al had ever seen, rage. He scooted a few more feet away.

Estele blinked for a moment, then recognizing who this impudent little girl was, she smirked. "I'm sorry, dear." she said, very obviously snide, "had I known you were listening, I wouldn't have brought it up… after all, I wouldn't want to be reminded of a betrayal like that either…"

"he never touched me…" Rose growled dangerously. At this point, Al, the reporters, and even Roy began to inch further and further away from the two women. From the way they were looking at each other, it wasn't unlikely that one would spontaneously burst into flames at any moment.

"oh? Well, then lets think on this one, dear, if he didn't do it… then who _did_ father that child of yours? It's not like kids just fall from the sky." Estele said, folding her arms and looking at Rose expectantly.

Rose said nothing.

"what was that? I couldn't quite hear you; speak up, dear, or you won't be heard over everyone else." the older woman said, putting a hand to her ear sarcastically like the room _wasn't_ so silent one could hear the gods of war whimpering in fear of these two women.

Rose said nothing.

"what's the matter? Name won't come to you? I know, it's so hard to figure out, there's just so many it could have been…"

Rose said nothing.

"or maybe you've just gone mute…" that struck a nerve, and Estele knew it. Her smile curled foully on her cheeks.

There was a pause, nothing moved, nobody was so bold as to take a breath, even the flies on the ceiling stopped buzzing; anything that made itself known to either of the two women were in grave danger of being eaten alive.

Rose spoke, "Truly, the Major is right… you're so busy chasing after a dead man that you can't see what's right in front of you." the younger, and much smaller woman began to stalk toward Estele; if looks could kill the woman would have died nine times over. "THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF HORRIBLE PEOPLE AROUND YOU AND YOU CAN'T EVEN SMELL THE SQUALID FILTH RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE!" she took a moment to regain the air it took to force all that out of her body then spoke again, "you… have no idea what you're talking about… so I suggest that you shut up."

There was another long pause. Al closed his eyes tight and waited for an almighty explosion… it didn't come. Estele looked at Rose for a long moment then let out a small laugh and strode over to another soldier, "I think the investigations crew has all the photos they need, you guys can take the body now."

Hesitantly, the crowd began to move again. The reporters scratched down cautious notes at first then began to scribble furiously in their notebooks and photographer cameras began snapping away again as the clamor resumed.

Al shakily rose to his feet after a while. Mustang strode up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, and said, "The two of you should go. This is no place for civilians." Without another word, he turned, and disappeared into the crowd.

"Rose?" Al called timidly, "Rose, let's go back to Winry… she's probably worried by now…" Despite the fact that Estele had turned away from her, Rose gave the beck of her head one, last, lingering glare then turned on her heel and began to walk away.

Coming from seemingly nowhere, Estele appeared behind Rose and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back. Putting her painted black lips to Rose's ear, the older woman whispered in a vile tone, _"I am the squalor."_


	3. 2: The Pied Piper

Izumi set the freshly refilled cup of tea on the table in front of Rose, "It's a pity they made the Major uproot like that just to go chasing something that isn't there." she said, sitting down in an armchair at the end of the coffee table. Winry looked at Rose with concern, "Are you all right, Rose? You haven't said anything since you got here…" she said gently.

Rose looked up and smiled weakly, "I'm allright, really… I'm just a little tired is all. Al, did you find anything useful in the library?" she said, changing the subject quickly.

"oh! That's right," Winry said, looking towards Al, who was now in the kitchen, cleaning up. "now that the press is all shaken up, there's probably going to be an increase of security in government buildings." Al sighed heavily, "yeah, it'll probably be a while before I can get back in there with just Major Armstrong's permission." he put the tea bags and kettle back in their proper places and came to sit with the other three, "I guess I'll go looking for people who can tell me about those four years with brother again." he said, sitting down next to Winry.

"well, you have most of it, don't you?" Izumi asked.

"I'm still missing two big chunks of it," Al said, "the encounters we had with Scar before he was in Lior, and the Homunculus, Greed; all possible witnesses Roy and the others can name are dead… so I'll just have to find the people he didn't think of!" Al said with a determination that was reminiscent of his brother.

"… but how're you going to find them if Roy and everyone else can't?" Winry pointed out. Al's newfound confidince vanished, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that…" he said miserably.

"well, you'd best find a way, Alphonse," Izumi said sternly, "nobody's going to just come crashing through your door and whisk you away to a solution." Al sighed, "I know…" there was a pause, "does anyone else hear that?"

The soft padding of many feet was rapidly getting faster and louder.

Suddenly something threw the door open with a loud crash, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! FORTHELOVEAGODPLEASETELLMEYOUREINHERE!!!!" (translation, "for the love of god, please tell me you're in here") screamed second lieutenant Havoc, followed by Furey, Breda, and Falman. The other four blinked confusedly at the man. When Havoc realized that Al was there; he sprinted over, threw the boy over his shoulder and sprinted away again, all the while all of the men were chattering something along the lines of, "pleasealyouvegottacomeseethisyouretheonlyonewhowouldknowwhattomakeofthis, IT'S SCARY!!!!"

(translation: "please, Al, you've gotta come see this, you're the only one who would know what to make of this, IT'S SCARY!") and then were gone.

"well… that was eerily ironic…" Izumi said after a long moment.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Al looked up at the massive building and blinked, "now… you guys say you saw _what_ in there?"

"we aren't exactly sure but…" Furey paused and looked uneasily at his comrades, "it might be somebody who can tell you about Greed"

"might be?!?!" Havoc exclaimed, "it couldn't be anyone else! You all saw the markings on it's hands!"

Al blinked and looked at Havoc, "markings-?"

"it was dark, we could've just been seeing things." Falman pointed out, not hearing Al.

"what're you guys talking abou-?"

"Look, man, I know what I saw, and I'd recognize those arrays from anywhere!" Havoc snapped

"what array-"

"you were more intoxicated than all three of us put together!" Breda yelled

"can't we just stop fighting, get this over with, and go home?" Furey pleaded.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?!??!" Al finally had to yell to make himself heard over the squabbling men.

They all stopped arguing and looked at him, then looked at the ground uneasily… then at each other. For a split second Al saw a silent conversation flick between them and a moment of realization before-

"not it." Breda said, followed by Furey and Falman

"notit"

"NOTIT!"

"Not-…DAMMIT!" Havoc swore as he realized that he was, in fact "it". "c'mon, Al. It'd be easier just to show you." Havoc said as he took the lantern begrudgingly from Breda and began walking towards the massive, ruined building. Al looked back at the others then ran off to follow Havoc.

OoOoOoOoOo

Finally Al and Havoc turned a hallway and Havoc stopped moving. Al looked at him, "what is it?"

"this is as far as I go, my friend." Havoc said, handing the lantern to Al.

"what!?!?" Al exclaimed. This place was scary enough even with a sharp-eyed soldier as an escort, all on his own, Al was almost positive he was going to get lost or eaten by something. "I can't go on my own! I don't know which room!"

"it's that one," Havoc said, pointing to the only room with a slight orangeish glow shining through the doorway, "eighth one down on the left, you can make it. I'll just be standing right here."

"it's only a few more feet, just come with!" Al pleaded.

"uh… I… I can't" Havoc stammered, looking away from Al.

"why not?!?!?" Al asked, beginning to panic.

"_because he's afraid…_" a voice echoed from down the hall. Both Al and Havoc almost stopped breathing and slowly turned to look at the glow. A shadow passed through it. "_that's why you won't come… right, Havoc?_"

Neither Al nor Havoc made a sound.

"_sigh well, fine, don't answer me then… but I must ask, who's your little friend? It's been a while since I've seen a kid around here, maybe he has the courage to come look at me." _

Al looked at Havoc. Havoc nodded and pulled a pistol from his belt, _"go ahead"_ he whispered so quietly that Al could barely hear him,_ "I've got your back."_ Al swallowed hard and nodded shakily before walking uneasily towards the room. After a few steps, Havoc followed, making sure to keep in the same footfall as Al, so that whatever was in that room couldn't hear that there were two people coming.

The shadow obstructed the light's path again but this time stayed for a moment longer before moving, and allowing the light to shine, uninterrupted once more. Al had reached the fourth door… the fifth… sixth…

_"for Christ's sake, boy, move faster! The audience is getting bored!" _the voice yelled, exasperated. Al stopped and looked back at havoc for advise on what to do, Havoc shrugged as a message saying, _'whatever, why not?'_ and so Al nodded and began to move at a faster pace than the hesitant crawl he had been sustaining.

…seventh, and finally, he stood in the wake of the eighth doorway. Havoc stood on guard just behind the doorframe, ready to attack if he had to. Al swallowed again and walked into the middle of the room and looked around. He noticed the same things Havoc had; the rusty bed in the corner, the unlabeled jars, the gaping hole in the wall that let light from the setting sun flood the room, washing all it's contents in orange. Sitting on the ledge of the crumbled wall were a dozen or so rats… all looking at him intently, but none of them seemed big enough to have emitted the voice that had been speaking to Al… as a matter of fact, Al saw nothing in the room that looked like it was capable of human speech.

"Hello?" he called hesitantly to the empty room.

Nothing.

"uhm… I'm here… me… the one you were telling to hurry up… anybody?"

No response.

Al waited a moment longer then sighed in defeat and turned to walk away when,

"So you want to know about Greed huh?"

Al screamed and jumped about three feet in the air before whipping his head to the corner from whence the voice had come.

There, beside the rusted, moth-eaten bed, a dark figure rose from the shadows. It was huge, as it stood, long limbs separated themselves from a very tall body, yellow eyes reflected the light from the floor back through the darkness the creature stood in. Black lips parted into a toothy grin on it's massive head. Al could faintly see gray patches at the ends of it's arms but other than that, the rest of the creature's body faded into the darkness.

"y…yes… d-do you know a-anything about him?" Al stammered. This thing easily stood two feet above his head, there wasn't enough room for Al to use his usual alchemical attacks and in hand-to-hand combat, there was a giant disadvantage on Al's part. This thing could rip his head off.

A long and menacing laugh echoed from the creature's throat as it threw it's head back and expressed it's amusement at the question that had been asked, "do I know anything about him'? boy, I know all there is to know about Greed. The question is;" Al saw that the beast had legs now as it began to take steps toward him, out of the shadows and into the sunlight…

Finally, Al began to see the thing in entirety and wished it had stayed out of the light. A hand with long fingers was covered in black fur and sharp, three-inch talons grew from it's fingers. It grasped the edge of the opening and began to pull the rest of the body out of the shadows. Long, white whiskers emerged along with a thick black muzzle containing rows and rows of long, sharp teeth that gleamed in the dimming sunlight. It was followed by round, Amber eyes that shone brightly through silken, jet-black hair that hung limp in it's face and down to it's chest. Pointed ears stuck out on either side of it's head, pointing back like the horns of some sleek-headed imp. It's face, Al realized, was that of a giant rat but it's body was that of a lean but muscular man, except for the legs, which had one too many joints and walked only on the ends of the feet, like a dog or some other beast… yet it still had feet not paws. And finally, a long, gray tail (easily as long as the thing was tall) whipped along behind it as it walked. It wore what looked like some tattered, old prisoner's uniform. The top half was too ripped up to stay on and just hung about it's waist by the belt

It looked Al in the eyes and spoke to him, it was even stranger to see the very obviously inhuman lips form very intelligible human words, "why are you interested in knowing about a thing that's been dead for so long… and… why should I help you?" it was advancing toward him. Al was terrified but couldn't move nor make a sound.

Before he knew it, his face was inches from the beast's nose, he could feel it's hot breath breaking on his face and could see the ridges in it's gleaming white teeth. It's whiskers twitched forward, dancing on his skin.

"what's in it for me?"

OoOoOoOoOo

Winry, Izumi, and Rose were still up and about. Izumi sat on the couch, reading the newspaper and sipping the last contents of the teapot that night. Rose was in the other part of the room, putting Daniel to bed. Winry sat by the window, staring wistfully out it. Al had been gone for quite a while now, an hour or so? More? Winry was beginning to get worried. "I wonder where Al is" she murmured mostly to herself.

"there's no need to worry about him," Izumi said from behind her newspaper, "even if he was totally incapable of taking care of himself, he has four full-grown soldiers with him, dear, he's perfectly safe."

_I hope so…_ she thought silently to herself.

Rose walked back into the kitchen area and put Daniel's bottle back in the refrigerator. "you finally get him to sleep?" Winry asked, taking her attention away from the window. "yeah…" Rose said, "he wanted to stay up until Al came back but after a while he got too tired and passed out." she looked like she was about ready for a nap herself. She walked over to the window and looked out as well, "any sign of Al yet? Daniel's gonna be mad if Al shows up right after I told him to go to sleep because he'd be home too late." Winry laughed a little, "nah, no sign of him yet."

"oh good, I won't have to listen to 'I told you so's all day tomorrow." Rose said with a good-natured smile.

She stared out the window a while longer, _'It's not fair…'_ she thought, _'No matter what, Daniel always finds himself waiting for someone… at least Al will actually come back to play…'_ she hadn't noticed it, but her expression was fading to show the unhappiness she had been hiding all night. Winry noticed, "Rose? What's wrong?" she asked kindly

"huh? Oh! Nothing, I guess I'm just a little tired is all, it's been a long day." Rose said quickly, forcing a smile onto her face.

"you're lying," Izumi said flatly, not even looking up from her paper, "I can see it in your face."

Rose sighed and let the forced smile slip off her face, she should've known there was no way to fool Izumi.

"get yourself a cup of tea and sit down," Izumi said, folding the newspaper up and setting it down beside her, "they say if you talk about what ails you, it'll go away faster"

Rose sighed and did as she was told, she had grown rather close to Izumi and Winry in the past year, she knew it was useless to try and change the subject now… but they HAD let it go once today so juuuuust maybe…

"well… really, it's nothing you guys should have to worry yourselves about…" Rose said quietly.

"look, it's no use resisting, whatever bothers you bothers us, so you might as well tell us and get it over with." Winry said, smiling as she sat down next to her on the couch.

"it's just…" she began, staring into her tea cup, "there's no way… Scar could've done it, why is that woman so insistent upon making it look like he did?" Rose looked up to Izumi, "do you think he did it, Ms. Curtis?"

Izumi sighed, leaned back, and took a sip of her tea, "well, while I don't always see things the same way Major Mustang does," she began, "I do have to agree with him on this, there's absolutely no way Scar could have been responsible for those murders. There's no way he got out of Lior alive… but perhaps that's the very reason this woman is pushing it so much." she leaned forward and set her mug down on the table, "think about it, the story is so unlikely and controversial that the press is bound to just _devour_ it… and she'll be right in the center of attention…"

"but… what if… he did get out of Lior?" Rose asked, with just a hint of hope in her voice, "what if he did get out and is still alive somewhere? He still couldn't have done it right? It wasn't his usual pattern."

"people are just flesh to murderers," Izumi said curtly, "it doesn't matter who that person was to the rest of the world, to a murderer they're just prey. If there was any way that man was still alive, it would take a divine statement to convince me that he had no part in that girl's death." Rose looked down, crestfallen. suddenly Izumi realized that Rose was not looking for a suspect, she was only trying to defend what little honor Scar had left. She'd forgotten that Rose had actually known him. "or… I don't know. I've never met the man, so I suppose I really can't judge his character." she added quickly.

"it's all right, Ms. Curtis…" Rose said quietly, "you're probably right… maybe it's better that he's gone."

Winry had been trying to place what was wrong for a long time but now it registered. A part of Rose _wanted_ him to be back… but the other part knew that meant he was out killing again. Winry sighed, Rose's dreams were like a genie's wish, no matter how good her intentions are, something bad is always attached. She helped a prophet spread his word, only to find out that he was a farce; she brought peace to her town, only to find that it brought more death; she wanted just one man to have survived the Lior incident, but that would only mean that he was a killer once more.

There was a long silence. Nobody said a word, for there was nothing to say. For once, neither Winry or Izumi could offer words of comfort that were not false.

The silence was cut abruptly by a loud siren, police wistles rang shrilly. "what the?" Winry got up and looked out the window again, there were police cars speeding toward them…

OoOoOoOo

Havoc was now sitting against to door frame, his legs had gotten tired of standing. Al had been talking to the rat/man/whatever for some time now, trying to convince it to tell him about the Homunculus, Greed… Havoc had stopped trying to comprehend it all a long time ago.

"so, you see, I have to re-learn everything I forgot if I'm ever going to figure out how my story came to that conclusion… and it's the only way I would be able to figure out how to fix that ending…" Al said, finally coming to the end of his story. It must've been a long story, Al hadn't noticed, but at some point it had gotten dark enough that he actually needed to light the lantern Havoc had given him.

The rat/man creature had said nothing the whole time Al had been talking but had listened intently… now… it still said nothing. It sat on it's heels on the ledge of the opening and was now absent-mindedly stroking a rat at it's side, lulling it to sleep.

Al waited for a response for about thirty seconds before asking timidly, "well?"

The rat spoke but did not look up, "well' what?"

"will you tell me what you know now?" Al asked hopefully.

"It's a heartwarming story, kid, but I still see no profit in it for me." the creature said without hesitation.

"WHAT?!?!?" Al yelled, "but…but…if you weren't going to help me, then why'd you listen to my story? Why didn't you tell me before I got started????" talking that much had actually fatigued him a little.

"for Christ sake, kid, calm down! I didn't say I _wouldn't_ tell you, I just said that I haven't heard any talk of payment yet." the creature said coolly, as it hopped down from the ledge "you're an alchemist, you should know how it goes: nothing is free, if you want my information, you've got to be able to give _me_ something for it."

"anything, I'll give you anything you want if you'd just tell me." Al pleaded, "anything that might give me a clue as to where brother is!"

The creature crossed it's arms and clicked it's tongue, shaking it's head, "that's a very unwise thing to say to something like me, my friend. You don't know what I'll ask for… it might be something you don't really want to lose."

"what could you possibly take from me that's more important than my brother?" Al asked with uncharacteristic boldness.

"lots of things…" the creature said, walking towards Alphonse "the world, your soul," it leaned in and whispered in Al's ear, "the life of your little friend who's waiting just outside that door, thinking I didn't hear him walking in your footsteps… or maybe your other three buddies at the gate who're waiting for you? They'd never see me coming…"

Al took a sharp breath, how did it hear Havoc following him? Al, himself, had had to look back to make sure Havoc was still behind him. Al looked up to the creature in horror, "you… you wouldn't… you CAN'T!" he yelled hoarsely.

"AND WHY NOT?" the best bellowed back, the old, manic smile curling on it's face, "why can't I? It's Equivalent Exchange, I give you the information to gain one life, why shouldn't you give up another?"

"BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT MINE TO GIVE!" Al yelled back. The Creature's smile vanished and it looked a little taken aback. "Their lives don't belong to me so I refuse to gamble with them! If you want payment you'll just have to settle with what I have to offer…" Al said with a surprisingly threatening look in his eyes.

The creature did nothing but stare at this courageous (if slightly stupid) little boy who had just decided to stand up to a being that could rip him apart… this boy was insulting! Insane! Asinine! Over-confident! … Impressive… The determined face Al was wearing was beginning to fade as he realized just how stupid it had been to yell at this thing.

"I like you kid, what's your name?" the creature asked.

"Alphonse Elric" Al answered, hesitantly… what did it just say?

"Al… phonse…" The creature repeated, "Alphonse Elric? The little brother of Edward Elric, The Full Metal Alchemist???" it asked, beginning to speak slightly faster.

"y… yes…" Al was getting more nervous now.

"…"

There was another long pause while the creature stared into space. Nothing moved. Until the beast smiled again, "well, mister Elric, I've changed my mind, I think I will help you." it said as it began moving around the room, grabbing a small, cloth bag and beginning to throw things in it.

"you mean you'll tell me about Greed?" Al asked happily.

"that, and more." The creature said, as it tied the cloth bag firmly closed "I'll do anything and everything in my power to bring your brother back."

"you mean it?" Al exclaimed ecstatically.

"yep, but just one more thing I need to know…" it said, throwing a hooded robe around it's shoulders, "where are you living now?"

"eh… what?" Al asked, confused. That question had just dropped out of the sky.

"where are you living now?" the creature repeated.

"uh… military dorms?" Al lied, not really wanting to give away his fixed location to this thing he had just met.

"bullshit, if you're going to lie, at least do it well." the creature responded instantly.

"uh…uh…" Al stammered, what was it planning?

"I bet you're staying with that teacher of yours, she lives in that butcher place in dublith. "Happy Meats" right?"

"HOW DID YOU FIGG- I mean-"

"good, now that we're all on the same page, I'll see you there." The creature said then sprinted for the opening and leaped.

"WAIT!" Al yelled, running after it, but it was too late. The creature had disappeared into the night.

Al looked over the side of the ledge, but saw only darkness. He sighed miserably, _'now I'm in trouble,' _Al thought _'Teacher's not going to like the idea of a seven-foot rat in her shop' _Havoc came out from behind the door and looked as well, "where'd it go?".

Suddenly it's massive head sprang up from the darkness and it latched onto the ledge again, "yes?" it asked, slightly annoyed.

Al and Havoc both screamed and jumped back, "WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?!" Havoc yelled.

"you told me to wait. I am waiting. What do you want?" the creature snapped.

"uh…ah…" Al thought hard for what he wanted to know the most, "who are you?" Al spat out finally.

The creature smiled, "The name's Zolf J. Kimbly, kid. But most people just call me 'Crimson'… don't forget it this time." with that, the creature sprang away from the side of the wall, leaving his palms open so Al could catch a glimpse of two light gray transmutation circles etched on his black palms, one containing the crescent moon, the other, the new moon. Then he was gone

OoOoOoOo

As Al and Havoc had come back to the entrance, Furey Falman, and Breda bombarded them with questions… all of which, Havoc was happy to enthusiastically answer in Al's stead; "I TOLD YOU IT WAS HIM!"

"what??? That psycho's really back out there!?!?!" Furey panicked, "we have to tell someone!"

"NO!" Al yelled, "if anybody finds out, they'll go off looking for him! I need him to help me find brother!"

"but, how do you expect him to help you, Al? he doesn't know where Ed is either." Havoc pointed out. "I know but…" Al murmured, "I appreciate Rose and Winry's help and everything but… just teacher alone isn't enough to crack the code… maybe if we had three alchemists working on the problem at once, we might be able to figure it out!"

The other four couldn't argue his logic. "please you guys, promise me you won't tell anybody, PROMISE!" Al pleaded.

The four men looked at each other then shrugged and agreed… "thanks you guys… really…" Al said, gratefully.

Breda smiled, "no problem, just remember…"

"**_you owe us"_** they all said in unison before turning around and leaving Al to walk the last block or so to the hotel.

OoOoOoOo

Once Al finally made it, he found himself, once again, greeted by police sirens and mobs of reporters. Only now there were also spotlights zooming around, looking for someone. "oh great, now what's happened?" he muttered to himself, it couldn't possibly be Kimbly already, could it?

He didn't have long before someone came up to him and thrust a suitcase into his arms, his suitcase, he soon realized. "come , Al, we're leaving" said the curt voice of Izumi. Followed by a sleepy, "Awl?" he looked and saw Daniel, half-asleep in Rose's arms, "Awl? Awe you back yet?" the toddler said sleepily, still not quite mastering the correct pronunciation of Al's name… or of the letter "R".

"yeah, I'm back… Teacher, what's going on?" Al said.

"someone was trying to break into the hotel…" Izumi said solemnly, "it's not-" she was interrupted as the spotlight apparently caught something and the crowd began to scream;

"look!"

"There! They're right there!"

Al looked up and, sure enough, a person crawled out of a window, leaped to another window ledge and scurried up to the top of the building and began sprinting along the rooftops. They were moving so fast that the spot lighters had to struggle to keep the light on them… whoever they were.

It was impossible to see the real fine details but Al could make out blurs of color. The intruder was dressed entirely in black, their skin was a sandy-brown, unnaturally white hair whipped at their face. Other than that, the only thing Al could see was that this person was beginning to beat the spotlight. They were bobbing in and out between the bright light and the pitch-black shadows.

A reporter was talking rapidly into a microphone, recording every detail he could make out of this intruder. Which were not more than Al could say… that is until

"The perpetrator is running south-southeast, almost right alongside the police squad! It seems almost as if he's taunting us! There is police fire but it seems that not one bullet has even GRAZED this criminal! By God, folks, I think we have a real problem on our hands! Never in my twenty years of reporting have I ever seen anything like this! Rumors say that we just might be looking at the prime suspect of the recent killing spree!" it was beginning to annoy Al that the reporter was talking about it like it was a horse race or some kind of sporting event.

"wait, what's this?" the reporter said abruptly looking over toward the group of police cars. Estele was standing atop one of them and was taking aim with a small pistol, the crowd was suddenly silent.

"It seems that General Ana Estele is going to try to take the culprit out on her own! This is either the biggest display of bravery or stupidity I have ever seen!"

Estele cocked her gun and was about to pull the trigger when the culprit suddenly disappeared from sight.

"OH! But it looks like we won't get to find out as the culprit has actually OUTRUN the spotlight!"

Estele's expression soured, and she lowered her gun while she continued to glare at the spot where the figure had disappeared

"I guess this is just one bad guy that she'll just have to let get away…"

There was a moment where everyone began to resume chattering as normal when suddenly Estele's arm sprang up and fired her gun without warning. Following immediately after, the spotlight caught the hunched-over body, revealing it to be nursing a bleeding leg, it's back turned to the crowd.

"NO WAY! The General has fired her gun, in the dark and actually hit the suspect in the leg! This is truly unbelievable!" the reporter screamed into his microphone, "now the suspect is looking around to se- WAIT! What is he doing??? The suspect has just thrown an unidentified object at the general!"

Sure enough, what looked like a rock whipped through the air and struck Estele directly in the forehead, knocking her off the police car. There was a collective gasp and even the spot lighters became distracted and took their eyes off their target, at which point said target bolted.

"the suspect is moving again!"

Now that they were injured, the person couldn't run as fast as before, and apparently knew it. And so, without warning, they veered to the side, and leaped. Time seemed to slow, and, for a split second, one could catch just barely a glimpse of the suspect's face, and would instantly notice.

"…red eyes…" was all the reporter could say… and for once, he was speechless. As was the entire crowd… they had all seen it, their worst nightmares were confirmed, "l…ladies and gentlemen…" the reporter stuttered, "the killer… is Ishbalan…"

Nobody moved, even Daniel was dead silent. Izumi was the only one who seemed capable of movement for she broke Al from his stupor and tugged on his arm, "that is why we are leaving," she whispered hastily, "it's not safe here…" she then did the same to Rose and Winry and then the four of them ran off toward the train station. When Al looked back he saw that Estele was back atop the car and glaring at the building again, totally ignoring the reporters that had swarmed around her… but that didn't last long, she turned and began shouting answers to the mob like it was a public speech. Only the one reporter had not moved from his spot, Al heard him murmor,

_"God have mercy on us all…"_


	4. 3: return and arrival

-1The darkness of the tunnel gave way to bright, green countryside as the train sped along it's tracks. Daniel whined mildly whenever the train had to go through a tunnel, he was afraid of the dark. Al, Rose, Izumi, Winry and Daniel all sat in one compartment. Winry had fallen asleep hours ago, Izumi had been reading a book but had put it down since they had been in a particularly long tunnel, Al was staring out the window thoughtfully, and Daniel had buried his face in Rose's shirt, waiting for the tunnel to end.

"it's okay, Danny," Al said, "that was the last tunnel we have to go through." The little boy looked up from his mother's side, "really?" he asked hopefully.

"yep, nothing but farmland from here to Risembool." Al smiled. Daniel began to re-bury his face in Rose's shirt, "wh…wha happen a' Wisemboo?"

"we get off, dear" Izumi said bemusedly. Daniel blinked and began to relax "oh… otay…" Rose hugged the little boy to her side and stroked his hair, "then we get to go home for a bit, won't that be nice?" she said.

Daniel nodded, "but, why awen't we jus' gowin howme firs'?" he asked, confused.

"because Winry has to get her Automail supplies before we go back to Dublith, remember?" Rose replied.

"den why awe we gowing howme a' awll?"

Rose sighed, Daniel was getting to the stage when he asked multiple questions multiple times, "because we have to see how construction's going…" she explained for the third time that train ride, then she realized how to get him off the subject of Lior, "that means we get to go see Major Armstrong; you remember him don't you?" Daniel giggled, "hee-hee… ee's silly."

Al smiled and laughed lightly, "yes he is…" he said, mostly to himself. Armstrong had taken a personal initiative in the rebuilding of Lior. He also acted as Daniel's playmate whenever he could spare the time.

"mebbe dis time some a da odda kids'll wanna play too!" Daniel said excitedly.

"We'll see, hun…"Rose said, forcing her voice to be optimistic. "…we'll see."

OoOoOoOoOo

"GRANNY, WE'RE HERE!" Winry called happily as she burst in the door. "WEUR HEA, GAH-WANNEH!!!!" Daniel echoed as he followed directly behind. Pinako Rockbell poked her head out from the work room, "oh, already? I wasn't expecting you bunch for another week!" she said, setting down the prosthetic leg she was working on and coming to greet the visitors.

"there were some… environmental complications that hastened our departure." Izumi said as she calmly stepped into the house and set her luggage down. "ah… I suppose you mean the killing sprees, yes?" Pinako said, closing the door behind them.

Al was slightly surprised that the news had spread to such a rural area, but then again, it did have the entire military in a panic… now that it was confirmed that the suspect was ishbalan…

"yeah… they were getting a little to close for comfort…" Izumi said solemnly, "the police finally showed up at our hotel chasing their suspect…"

"YEAH! An' da ca's wa dwivin' awound, an' dey made a sound like dis: 'WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO!!!!" Daniel said excitedly, and began running around in circles, arms flying behind him. The sound of claws and metal clacking on the floor could be heard as Den came bounding towards the sound of children.

"DUGGIE!" Daniel yelled as he ran to greet the dog in turn.

Pinako smiled, "I was wondering when that old dog would realize that you were here… come, I bet you haven't eaten since you got on that train, I'll whip you up something to fill your bellies." she turned to Daniel, who had now taken to trying to mimic Den in any way he could… as he always did when he visited the Rockbell house, "Maybe today you'll prefer my cooking to Den's food, huh?"

"WOOF!"

"I'll take that as a no…"

OoOoOoOoOo

After a meal of stew… or ground dog food…whichever met the consumer's fancy… Izumi took Al out to run errands for Pinako. It was the only way she'd allow Pinako to give her free food. Daniel had curled up with Den on the rug., And Rose sat on the couch, looking at something in her hands.

It was a silver pendant, a locket, actually. It's metalwork was thin and spindly, the surface was tarnished and scratched, there was a deep dent in the center that offset the blue gemstone that was set in it. The clasp was bent and no longer permitted it to open. She had seen the locket once before, but her memory was fuzzy. She couldn't place what time or place she knew it from, but she knew that it had been well cared-for at one point. Seeing it's current condition was almost depressing. She had tried many times to at least un-bend the clasp but to no avail. What had happened that the owner who had once cared so much for this locket, had abandoned it and left it to become so battle-scarred?

"Rose?" Winry asked, jolting Rose from her thoughts, "it's awful quiet down here… I figure that means Daniel finally passed out."

"heh, yep… he's curled up with Den…" Rose said, nodding to the rug the two had fallen asleep on.

"ah, I see." Winry laughed, "well… if it gets too quiet down here… I could use some help getting the automail parts together…" Rose blinked, "but… what about…" she looked at Daniel on the rug.

"oh, there's no need to worry about them," Winry said, "you won't find a better bodyguard in all of Risembool than that dog right there… they'll be fine."

Rose blinked then smiled, "okay, I'll be right with you." Winry smiled back then turned bouncily and went back into her workroom. Rose took one more look at the pendant in her hand then sighed, she had looked at the damn thing millions of times before and she had never remembered it's origin… what made her think she'd remember it now? She went to shove it back in her pocket but she stopped… it didn't seem right to just stuff it away like a piece of garbage… instead, she put it around her neck and tucked the pendant under her shirt. Then she turned and followed Winry to the workroom.

The two girls worked in awkward silence for a long time. Collecting parts, stowing them in their correct space, repeat. The silence was broken only by the occasional clanking of metal. Winry was beginning to regret labeling both the parts and the compartments they went in… even an organization question was welcome at this point. Silence was torture to her.

Rose was always quiet; she wasn't really as open as Winry was either. Despite her caring personality, she seemed distant in a way. She was always happy to help other people, but she never told anybody about her own problems. She always tried to shoulder everything herself… in a way, she was just like Ed… it annoyed the crap out of Winry. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Rose…" she began, finally shattering the suffocating silence, "I know you're not really okay."

Rose blinked confusedly at this statement that had just seemed to drop out of the sky, "wh…wha?"

"ever since you got into that fight with Estele, you've been different. Now, I know you don't want to burden anybody with your problems, and you've got some things that you don't want to really think about but …" Winry paused and locked gaze with Rose, making sure not to waver, making sure to make it known that what she said was the dead truth, "you're a strong girl, Rose… but… you're still just a human… we all need someone to talk to… if you try to shoulder all of your problems on your own… you just get crushed…"

Rose stared at her blankly, "Winry…"

"I know you and I aren't really what you'd call 'friends' exactly, I mean we've been out shopping but we don't really know each other that well, but… you can always talk to me… if you find that you have something you need to say…"

There was more silence… Rose stared, mouth agape, then finally looked away. But said nothing. Winry sighed and went back to work… she really did want to help… but it seemed… Rose would still keep her distance…

"thank you…" Rose whispered. Winry looked at her again.

"Thank you Winry… that… that's the first time… anybody's said that to me in a long time…" tears streamed down Rose's face as she expressed her gratitude, "it means a lot to me… oh geez, look at me…" she put a hand over her eyes and began to laugh, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I'm going to pieces over a friendship offering… how stupid…"

"It is not stupid!" Winry said coming up and putting a hand on Rose's shoulder, "I've cried over stupider things…"

"oh, like what?" Rose scoffed.

Winry thought for a moment then smiled, "once, when me, Ed and Al were kids…"

OoOoOoOoOo

"Ha ha ha! You're kidding!" Rose laughed.

"nope, dead serious. That dog ate an entire birthday cake by himself in only half an hour!" Winry laughed, reminisantly, "poor Al, first he cried because his birthday cake got eaten, then Granny said that much sugar and frosting might kill a dog so we all thought den was gonna die… and started crying again."

"That's so terrible!"

"you're telling me, that's still the worst birthday to date, I think."

Four hours had passed. It felt like ten minutes. The fact that there was still tools and parts strewn about the room no longer mattered to the two girls. It was amazing how easy it was to let everything spill out once they got started. Every story, embarrassing defect, and secret worry came spilling out. Rose felt as though a massive weight had been lifted from her chest.

They had moved to the living room, it had begun to get cold as the sun went down, so they wrapped themselves up in blankets and gotten themselves mugs of hot tea. They now sat on the couch in the same room that Daniel and Den were sleeping in.

"you're so lucky…"Rose said quietly, "I never had really close friends like that when I was little… hell, the first time I was able to talk like this to someone I wasn't blood relative to was… I was thirteen… Cain." she trailed off and her smile faded.

"Cain?" Winry asked, "Who's Cain?"

Rose paused, and contemplated her teacup, then spoke, "Cain was… Cain was my boyfriend… for three years."

"wow… I can't hold one for more than a month!" Winry marveled. Rose laughed gently then fell silent. Winry pulled the blanket closer around herself, "you must've really loved each other…"

"we did…" Rose said distantly, her eyes stared at a place that was far, far away, "but… he died."

"oh…" Winry said, "I'm sorry…" Rose smiled kindly, "oh, don't be. All things considered, it could've been much worse, he wasn't in pain, he didn't suffer at all, but… since my parents died, he was all I had. there isn't a day that I don't miss him."

There was another long silence. The only sounds were that of the night outside and of Den's snores. Rose stared into her teacup and was lost in her own thoughts. Winry realized that this was important. That this had been locked up inside Rose's head for a very long time. And that was when she realized how alike they were… Rose and herself.

"my parents were doctors in Ishbal during the war." she said, breaking the silence, "they didn't sympathize with the war effort so they went and helped to heal all the injured people they could. It wasn't that they wanted Amestris to lose, they just didn't want so many people to die… but since they were helping the opposing side with medical care, the military saw them as enemies as well… so they were killed."

Winry sat her cup down on the coffee table in front of the couch, "see, Rose. There's such a thing as a "dead family" club. It's worldwide, and had hundreds of members… but despite the fact that there are so many, every member feels totally alone, like there's nobody in the world who can understand…"

Winry sighed and looked up to Rose, "the truth is, no. anybody who isn't in the dead family club, cannot possibly understand… but…" she finished the tea in her cup and stood, "you aren't the only one in the club, Rose… and you're not alone." she gave Rose a sincere smile, "so don't be afraid to ask for help."

Rose could do nothing but smile still, "thank you, Winry…" she modestly whispered. It had been a very long time since someone had offered such unabashed companionship, and she didn't quite know what to say or how to react. Winry was cheery as ever, "you're welcome!" she said enthusiastically with a wide smile. For the first time in years… Rose mirrored that smile with pure, seemingly boundless joy.

OoOoOoOo

Sometime around midnight, Izumi, Pinako, and Al returned home. Izumi and Pinako also seemed to have stricken up a sudden friendship as they were laughing and chatting about silly things kids do when they entered the house. Al was looking rather less cheerful, as he was laden with the spoils of their trip. It was about that time that Rose decided it was probably time to get herself to bed… seeing as Daniel had already found himself a new teddy bear… even if Den was three times his size… and did not seem to have any intention of releasing said teddy.

The next day they were on the move again. They had finally packed up all stray tools in Winry's room, gently pried a tearful Daniel and Den apart promising a timely reunion, and somehow dragged an already unhappy Daniel onto the "big scawwy twain!"

The train ride itself though, was quiet. Daniel got bored after a while and curled up on the seat next to his mother for a nap. Al and Winry quickly followed; Izumi, though, was not known to be the kind of person that slept in front of other people, neither was Rose. So the two found themselves in a long silence.

Actually, Rose was the only one who found herself in awkward silence, Izumi was lost in her newspaper… sure enough, the headline on the front page screamed in huge letters, "MYSTERIOUS SUSPECT SEEN FLEEING CRIME SCENE; WITNESSES REPORT ISHBALAN DESENT!" below the headline, there was a huge picture of the suspect they had seen in mid-air as he plummeted off the building. The picture quality caught no more details than Rose's own eyes had. The body was blurred in motion, and neither gender nor facial features could be discerned… but rose couldn't deny the red eyes that had glared all-too-clearly at her through the chaotic scene.

She tried to think of something else.

OoOoOo

Al was in a deep, rather pleasant sleep. He dreamed of a vast field, the tall grass flowered in books labeled "How to Find and Retrieve MIA Family Members For Dummies." as he frolicked through the field Izumi strode up to him and said, "I've decided to try a new teaching technique that focuses on rewards instead of punishment." Al twirled a little then carried on dancing trough the flowers.

Rose walked up with Daniel in her arms. The boy said, "I have grown disinterested in pulling hair and picking my nose, I have grown much more interested in taking my naptime when told and eating people food." Al smiled serenely, "follow that path, young one, and you will go far…" he said before continuing to twirl down his path. "you're my hero, Al!" Daniel called after him.

Havoc ran up holding a book in his hand labeled 'Not Ed's Diary.' "Al!" he yelled, "I just found an incredibly detailed diary that your brother was keeping for the four years after you tried to bring your mother back!" Al grinned happily, "yaaaaaaaaay."

Den ran toward Al on his hind legs wearing oven mitts and carrying a tray of cookies. "I have COOOOKIES!" the dog sang. Al danced airily over and took a bite out of one.

Winry appeared behind him and grabbed his hand, "Alphonse… there's something I've needed to say for a long time…" she said softly. She began to lean in close to him, blushing. "What is it winry? You can tell me anything…" Al said in an uncharacteristically masculine and romantic voice as he stared deeply into her eyes. She returned his gaze, lips parted as she leaned closer and whispered, "I…l-"

She was cut off by the thunderous footsteps echoing over the rolling hills, shaking the petals from the flowers. Black storm clouds gathered as the monstrous figure of Rat-Kimbly stomped towards him, reminiscent of Godzilla. Al began to panic and grabbed an enormous blanket and threw it over Kimbly's monstrous form. "who was that?" Winry asked as she appeared at Al's side. "NOBODY! Imean-uh… nothing… nobody's there, nothing's there, why would you think anybody was there?" he laughed nervously gesturing to the writhing mass under the blanket that was the size of a small house. "now… what were you saying?" he quickly changed the subject. The blush instantly reappeared on her cheeks and she resumed her position, inches from his face and whispered softly, "alphonse, I… love…"

"Zolf J. Kimbly!" Winry finished bouncily before shoving him out of the way and running to leap into the arms of the monstrous rat, who had torn the cloth to shreds. Al looked on in horror, "what???" he cried miserably from the ground. Daniel appeared at Kimbly's ankle tugging at his fur with one hand and digging in his left nostril with the other, "I have suddenly remembered how satisfying hair-pulling is and how liberating nose-picking is!" Al staggered back to his feet and turned to run but Izumi suddenly appeared in front of him. "Rats make me violent…" she growled, "you won't like me when I'm violent…" she let out an earth-rumbling roar as she grew three times her normal size and her skin took on a green hue. Al stared up at her in terror. She raised one of her enormous fists and bellowed "IZUMI SMASH!" before sending him flying, screaming, across the field. Rat-Kimbley laughed louder.

Al landed in front of Havoc, who was flipping through the diary and laughing, "This isn't Ed's Diary! It's yours!" he laughed. "noooooooooooooo!" Al wailed. Kimbly threw back his massive head and roared with laughter, pointing a taloned finger at him. Winry in his arms joined him as did Daniel, Izumi, and Havoc.

Al wallowed in his misery, and sobbed. Rose came and hugged him gently, "It's okay, Al… everything will turn out okay in the end…" she said comfortingly. Al sniffed and dried his tears, "thanks, Rose. At least you'll always be here for me…" Rat Kimbly stopped laughing immediately and pointed his finger at Rose. "SURLY GOAT RAY!" he bellowed and a red beam of light shot from his finger and hit Rose. Al looked on in horror as Rose morphed into a goat with a pink bonnet. Goat-Rose turned and began eating the pages of a nearby copy of "How to Find and Retrieve MIA Family Members For Dummies." She then turned to him with a mouthful of paper, "never mind, kid. You're screwed." she said bluntly before continuing on to devour all of Den's cookies.

Al grabbed his hair and turned his face to the heavens as he wailed in agony, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"ALPHONSE!" Izumi snapped, harshly waking him from his dream, "wake up, it's time to get off." Al blinked and looked around. Izumi stood over him with her hands on her hips impatiently. At some point he had slid down to lay out entirely on the bench. Rose and Winry stood in the doorway and looked at him with a mixture of confusion, worry and pity. Daniel stared blankly as he held his mother's hand with one hand, and picked his nose with the other. There was a long pause as Al got his bearings and nobody spoke.

"SURLY GOAT RAY! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!" Daniel suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Al.

"AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Al screamed and scampered into the corner. Daniel flinched at the sound of Al's scream and slowly lowered his finger in confusion, "… it was just pwetend…" the little boy said sheepishly.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

They walked down the dirt road and stared in awe at the newly restored buildings. Most of them had been piles of rubble when they last saw them but now looked like they were never damaged. There were children playing in the streets again and were totally unafraid of being attacked. The smell of warm sand and freshly-cooked food had replaced the smell of gunpowder and blood. A butterfly even fluttered past them, Daniel smiled brightly and swiped at it playfully. Rose smiled, at last her home was showing signs of healing.

Izumi looked around and smiled a little, "much better than when we left it. Major Armstrong must have been really putting some effort forth… it's nice to find a soldier that isn't complete scum." for Izumi, who still strongly disapproved of the military, that was a compliment.

"Even if he is a little strange…" Al added. Izumi sighed, "He is that, I must admit…" she murmured. "but for someone so big, I don't know how he gets along with kids so well… you'd think they'd be afraid of him…" said Winry.

"no…" Rose began, "the reason the kids aren't afraid of him is because he's honest, you just know it when you see him. He made a promise to protect them, so they know that nothing bad can happen to them when he's around… his size rather guarantees that. So it's no surprise that they aren't afraid of him…"

As they reached the middle of the town, they could hear deep rumbling laughter that was a telltale sign of-

"MAEJAH AHMSTWONG!!!!" Daniel squealed as he immediately recognized the massive man just ahead of them playing with the children in the park. The little boy pulled at Rose's arm toward Armstrong, signaling that he wanted to go play too.

Armstrong had heard Daniel call his name and looked up and waved to them, smiling. Rose smiled and waved back and reluctantly gave in to Daniel's tugging. She smiled nervously as they approached the major and Rose felt the disapproving gaze of a dozen mothers on her and her child.

"Hello, Major. How've you been?" Winry greeted him cheerfully. Armstrong laughed, his entire body shaking with the force and shaking the dozens of children that clung to him. "couldn't be much better, I should say!" he announced, "And how about yourselves? Keeping out of trouble I hope?" he looked at Daniel on the last question. The little boy put his hands behind his back and twisted one toe in the dirt "yeeeeeeeeeeeees…" he said, smiling innocently.

"Good lad." Armstrong smiled as he ruffled the boy's hair with one massive hand. He looked at rose then at one of the children clinging to his arm. He peeled the young boy off his jacket and set him down next to Daniel then proceeded to all of the other kids that were plastered to him as he said, "I have to go talk with Miss Thomas and her friends, children…" the kids let out a unanimous groan, but he continued over them, "how about you play with Daniel until I come back? Alright?"

The children all looked at Daniel uneasily, then looked back at their mothers who looked at each other in the same fashion. Some looked at their friends or sisters and shook their heads. Izumi glared at them in disgust. It was now painfully obvious why Rose was often reluctant to return to her home. She didn't know why the people seemed to regard her with such distaste, but there was no excuse to deny her child of social interaction, not one. She couldn't even imagine any reason they would have to dislike _Rose_, of all people,in the first place!

The major waited for a few moments then sighed, disappointed, even after all this time, people still would not accept Rose or her child. Rose smiled half-heartedly, "it's alright, major," she said quietly so neither the mothers nor the children would hear, "at least you tried…"

"go on, Julian, invite Daniel to a play a game with you…" One mother with a purple bandana and plum-colored eyes sitting on a bench finally spoke up. Rose looked at the woman in surprise. The woman smiled kindly, "I bet he'd love to learn how to play that game Daddy taught you yesterday." she said. Her friend sitting next to her looked at her in dismay, _"Andrea!"_ she hissed, looking at the other women nervously. Andrea rolled her eyes, "oh please, Eva, the boy isn't _diseased_ or anything, why shouldn't he play with the other kids?" Eva looked at her friend for a long moment. The little boy that had been attached to the major's shoulder scampered up to her and begged, "can I play too, mommy? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Eva sighed, "go on, Jeremy, you can play too." she said in forfeit. Jeremy squealed with happiness and ran to join Julian who was chattering away with Daniel about the game they were going to play.

Other women nodded to their kids as well. Rose was speechless as she watched all the kids eagerly crowding around Daniel and already declaring themselves on his team. But, even so, just under half of the mothers came and led their children away, saying that it was time to leave. But Major Armstrong was the only one who noticed them. He gave them each a disappointed gaze as they left. Winry leaned over to Al and whispered, _"why're those people leaving so suddenly?" _Al shrugged and shook his head as he replied, _"I don't know…"_

"Julian's been dying to teach someone that game all day…" Andrea laughed as she appeared next to Rose, "he taught everyone else yesterday and nobody wanted to hear the rules twice…" Rose looked at her blankly and blinked… was this woman… being friendly towards her? Andrea leaned over and explained quietly, "_if you hear the rules more than once it's harder to claim ignorance when you cheat…_" Rose smiled and laughed a little nervously, "oh, I see…"

"I'm Andrea Partridge, by the way." said Andrea, offering Rose her hand.

Rose shook the woman's hand and timidly replied, "Rose Thomas, but, you probably know that already, huh?" Andrea laughed, "yeah, the name rings a little bell." she joked good-naturedly. "So who're your friends?" she asked looking at the rest of the group behind her.

"oh! These are my friends I've been traveling with," Rose said, "Winry Rockbell-"

"-Hi!" Winry smiled and waved energetically.

"Alphonse Elric-"

"-Pleased to meet you." Al said politely.

"and Izumi Curtis."

"what is wrong with you people?" Izumi snapped as she glared at the woman, arms crossed. Andrea was taken aback by the sudden tone change in greetings. She asked in confusion, "huh?" Rose flinched, "Miss Curtis!" she cried in a tone that begged Izumi to be quiet. She had finally made friendly with the people! She didn't really care that they had been hostile towards her before, and really didn't want Izumi to bring it up. But Izumi neither complied to Rose's plea, nor even changed her expression.

"What thought could have _possibly_ possessed you people to treat a little boy like he was some kind of contamination?" Izumi spat curtly. Rose tried desperately to make Izumi stop, "please, Miss Curtis, It's alright, I-"

"no, it's not…" Andrea cut her off, "Miss Curtis, you ask a very valid question, and I cannot possibly come up with an answer to justify our actions. I actually meant to offer my apologies to you today."

"but, you just defended her!" Winry pointed out. Rose nodded and said, "exactly, there's no need for you to apologize after being so kind…" Andrea shook her head and sighed.

"I finally did the right thing today, yes." she began, "but I won't lie to any of you and say that I wasn't right with all of the others; criticizing you, Rose, and Daniel for the last year or so. Even though I did finally do the right thing today, I'm just as guilty as all those other women who were shaking their heads at me today. But if you'll accept it, I'd like to apologize for their- no, _our_ behavior. We had no right…"

Rose blinked for a moment, once again at a loss for words.

"I want to apologize too," another voice said.

"And me."

"Me too…"

Rose looked up and saw that all of the women who had stayed had appeared behind Andrea. "we all want to apologize, Rose," Eva said, "and invite you to come back to Lior to stay… if you still want to." Dumbstruck, Rose stared at the group of women that stared back at her, waiting for a reply. Was this really happening? She looked back at Armstrong who simply smiled and said, "well? What're you going to say, Miss Thomas?"

Rose took another moment to let the event sink in then turned to the women and smiled kindly. "you gave my son friends to play with didn't you?" she said, "You don't have to apologize for anything. Look," she gestured to Daniel as he laughed as he played with the other kids, "you finally gave Daniel a chance to be happy, I should think that makes up for everything…

"Consider the past forgiven and forgotten."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The room was dark. The few windows that were there were covered by thick curtains. A few thin slits of sunlight managed to bleed through the seams but that was all that lighted the darkness, that was all that was necessary. That was how he lived. Sunlight was a useless creature. Had he not had company, even the seams would be covered… but he had learned long ago that very few could live like he did. So, out of courtesy, he had allowed sunlight into his domain.

He lounged in a chair, his feet propped up on a coffee table. The scant light that landed on his boots reflected off the silver fastenings and illuminated the lower half of his face resting on his hand, both riddled in small scars.

"I don't like it." he said, voice toneless and gravely… as though he was unpracticed in using it.

Across the coffee table from him, his visitor scowled and leaned forward. He felt a glare upon him but was unaffected. His visitor sighed and he could hear the sound of clothes rustling and coins chiming against one another. A drawstring bag was thrown onto the table and slid a few inches passing through the slivers of light before hitting his boot and spilling it's contents over his feet. Coins clattered and avalanched over each other out of the bag, coming to rest at last in the light's path, scattering the sparse light onto the ceiling in dozens of hazy beams.

"Does that make it more appealing, Snowstorm?" the woman across from him crooned deviously. Snowstorm sighed; his mouth did not show a change in expression. "I told you, I don't like doing women and children." replied Snowstorm flatly. The woman made an exasperated noise and threw her hands in the air.

"has the lack of vitamin C effected your cognitive ability, or are you just stupid?" she spat venomously as she rose from her chair and began to advance on him, "You're an _assassin_, my dear friend. You don't _get_ to have your preferences, only your price, so _name_ it." she slammed her hands down on the arms of his chair on the last part, her face an inch from his, her body blocked the light reflecting from his shoes so his face was invisible. He didn't so much as bat an eye.

"indeed, my dear friend… I _am_ an assassin…" Snowstorm said calmly. A light played on the wall and his rather aggressive visitor snapped her vision to her belly where the tip Snowstorm's blade was resting against her navel, reflecting another sliver of light on the wall.

"so you should have known better than to use cheap imitation on me…" Snowstorm crooned mockingly. His smile was invisible in the darkness. "but," he began as he retracted his blade from her belly and gently pushed her back, "you make a point. I lost the right to an opinion a long time ago…" he rose from his seat and knelt before the coffee table, his back to the light, and began sifting through the coins, "how much is here?" he asked curtly.

"eight thousand" she answered.

"I'll do it for double."

"deal."

"once you send the rest of the money, I'll carry out your order." Snowstorm said, depositing the coins back into their bag.

"you'll get it within the week" She said before turning on her heel to leave.

"but the question begs to be asked…" Snowstorm said, making her stop, "what will the underground think? When an assassin of your esteem, when Sandstorm, the devil's red-eyed concubine, must turn to her rival to eliminate her enemies? What will they say when the desert succubus… cannot manage to finish a mere woman and her child?"

Sandstorm stopped dead as her rival spoke. When he finished she smirked and turned to him, "I suppose… they will say something similar to what they said the day Snowstorm Eli, the cold-hearted ruler of darkness…" he turned just so he could see half of the twisted, malicious smile on her face and one of her mad, flaming red eyes, "broke down on his knees before his superior and cried…" she hissed, her voice demonic and inhuman.

Snowstorm paused for a moment then sniffed in amusement. "I suppose they would." he said, accepting the insult that had been dealt. Sandstorm turned again and said, "but thankfully for both of us this is neither of those days, you see, I am only relaying a message to you from a dear friend of mine… she's a little new to the underground network but is quite well-known on the surface."

"really?" Snowstorm said in mock polite interest, "mind telling me a name, perchance?" he leaned forward and put his chin in one hand.

"her surface name is quite too well-known for me to reveal, but underground, you can call her Arachane." said Sandstorm. She left quickly before her rival could inquire further.

Snowstorm sat for a moment longer then put his hands on the table in front of him and pushed himself up. "Arachane, huh?" he thought aloud, "sigh I wonder which life she lives on the surface…"

He strode over to the window and looked through the seams of the curtain to the street below and watched the people walking there, oblivious that a serial murderer was watching them. "which life will make the transition to the underworld and shun the light to live in darkness?"

On the street below, Ana Estele walked past an old, decrepit, graffiti-ridden apartment complex and stopped to wrinkle her nose in disgust as she saw people going inside. She couldn't imagine anyone having so little self-respect as to live in such a place. How filthy.

She began to walk on her way when she felt an intent gaze upon her. She snapped her head upward and stared back into a pallid blue eye peering out of a window of the disgusting building. Unlike most she caught looking at her so intently, this pair of eyes did not blink or disappear. They gazed right back. She smiled… at last… someone with backbone. She nodded her respect and moved on… even if they were watching her… they were no danger… there was no threat that she couldn't eliminate… she would devour any insect that stood in her way…

Like flies in a spider's web.


End file.
